Sustainable Borneo: An Ode to Sarawak

What Is My Purpose? 

Living in world populated by almost EIGHT billion people, I feel minuscule, unseen, unable to phantom this reality. Everyday, I walked past strangers, I find myself trapped deeply in my thoughts asking, "What is your purpose? What is my purpose?" I guess it comes a time when age catches up, you find yourself asking big philosophical questions that no one has answers to. Perhaps people do have answers, but I do not. Life... a hell of a journey. 

No Idea

At the mean time, I shall continue asking, listening, examining the lives of people - people who have found their purpose. Find out what the secret is. Don't worry, I'm not completely oblivious, I do have my theories. Theory #1 Passion, finding your passion equates to finding your purpose. Makes sense, if you love something so much that you could do it everyday, surely that IS your purpose (?) - gives you drive, motivation, hopefully contributing to a bigger cause, and a by-product, that is "money". Passion, passion, passion... Everyone says that, "Find your passion and you never have to work a single day". Rolling my eyes while writing that. It has what I call *cringe factor* (trying to gesture fireworks with my hands). The only reason I'm rolling my eyes is that deep down I know that is, the statement is factual, reasonable. Theory #2. Well... I do not have a second theory, so for the time being let's continue exploring *passion*. 

Finding Passion

Two weeks ago, I came across a post on Facebook. A post for what I assumed was a tasting menu consisting of 7 courses with a theme, "Sustainable Borneo: An Ode to Sarawak" by Roots featuring West Malaysian restaurants, Akâr and Kuno. Roots, a Kuching, Sarawak based restaurant, "Emphasising on the journey of applying contemporary style cooking using only the best locally sources, fresh produce". I have previously been to Roots. I must say, it was fantastic. From simple dishes like chicken and lamb tacos to 28-day aged duck breasts to charcoal goat racks, it was executed very well. If someone can do something so well, surely they must have a passion for it, no? I like to think so.

The Day Has Arrived

After days of humid, scorching hot weather that Malaysia had to give, things were looking up. Cool, chill night. Found a parking spot on my first try in the busy streets of town. I lied, town isn't that busy at night. I lied again, *spoiler alert* it was busy when we left the restaurant. Roots is located at what I believe the central area of our town. Located right opposite our Sarawak River that was playing a water fountain show whilst lights beamed across the area and people flocking around to get a good glimpse of the show.

For the short walk to the restaurant, I was excited and privileged to witness these three passionate chefs come together to showcase their love for food and their crafts. A theme I have never experienced before, Borneo. I have never once in my life ever asked myself "What does Borneo taste like? What should I expect from Borneo? What represents Borneo?". Borneo consists of many ethnic groups that I cannot imagine what their take on it would be.

Finally, we were seated at a table for two. Spotless glassware and polished silverware bouncing lights left and right while we waited under the warm dimmed lights. The atmosphere was vibrant with chitchats from the patrons while waitstaff took orders for drinks. We went for a dark rum orange cocktail. A zesty drink for a zesty night. Orange skins cut up that settled at the bottom of the glass. Citrus-fragrant but a tad bit bitter for my liking. Shortly after, the first course had arrived.

The Review

First Course

Warm broth consommé made from ikan salai lumek, a smoked dried fish from my understanding. It was light and tangy with a hint of heat, but fishy. Tasty albeit I was surprised to start the course with a strong fish flavour that lingered.

Second Course

Savoury snacks included squid ink crackers and chicken pâté, duck taco, accompanied with a tepache. Crackers were well seasoned but the pâté had a strong bitter after-taste. I felt that it needed something acidic to brighten the dish up and to cut the gaminess. On the other hand, for the duck taco, the duck was moist, juicy and seasoned well. Tortilla had a good chew that I like. The let down was the sauce. It was lacking acid too and the raw onion overpowered the dish. It was unfortunate, I was looking forward to the tacos as I had previously tried their lamb and chicken tacos from their menu, and it did not disappoint then. The tepache (fermented drink made from pineapple rinds) in my eyes was the savior. After 2 strong-flavoured courses, it did the job to cleanse our palate. Sweetened lightly with a slight fizz, and a warm after-taste from the lemongrass.

Third Course

The Sarawak Terrior consists of local harvests. Ulam raja in the middle served with paku uban on the bottom, charred corn, sweet potato, kapitan sauce (pink), crown daisy sauce (green), corn sauce (yellow). The star of the dish was the paku uban. To my surprised, it was bursting with flavour - salty, savoury, umami. The pink sauce gave sweetness, green sauce was bitter, yellow sauce was tart. Individually, the sauces were not enticing but together, made the whole dish very well balanced. The potato soil gave a crunch factor and the tiny white pickles brightened up the dish (one of my favourite components). Although a salad, it was very playful. I felt like I was in the forest foraging for my own food (in the best way possible).

Fourth Course

Tiger prawns served with banana blossom kerabu on the top, daun kaduk on the bottom. The prawns were well cooked but unfortunately under-seasoned. The kerabu itself had floral notes and the way it was prepared reminded me of assam laksa. Daun kaduk to me had notes of star anise, cloves and turmeric that gave warming flavours that was pleasant. The components of the dish worked really well together.

Fifth Course

Charcoal grilled catch of the day (7 star grouper) served with kaffir lime beurre blanc and belimbing buluh (similarly to a starfruit). The fish was perfectly cooked - flaky and moist. The beurre blanc was creamy and the sago pearls gave the dish a unique texture. Sudden bursts of fish roe from the sauce transformed the dish immensely. Full-on ocean flavours in each bite. The starfruit worked well together with the flavours - sweet and citrus-y. I would not complain if there were more on the plate or thicker cuts to showcase more of the flavour.

Sixth Course

Chicken and corn barobbo cooked with beras adan. Minced chicken and corn porridge with fermented ensabi. The porridge itself had good texture, peppery with ‘chicken-y’ flavours. However, the minced chicken’s texture was not appealing to me, almost “dried” and the cucur (fried fritter) was greasy. It gave a good crunch to the dish but did not add much to the dish, flavour-wise.

Seventh Course (Final)

Smoked banana purée with wild honey and wine jelly, yogurt, Buddha hand fruit jam, and honey tuile. The smoked banana was intense (in a good way) in flavour, almost concentrated and had roasted notes. The jelly and jam gave a nice sweetness and tanginess. The yogurt although plain was a good vessel for the combination of all the components. The honey tuile was elegant and crisp. Easily the best dish of the night.

Chocolate sponge coated with chocolate mousse filled with roselle jam. Very good contrast that reminded me of chocolate covered strawberries. Slight bitterness from the chocolate accompanied with the floral sweet notes of the roselle. 

Tuak infused with kedondong and orange plum. Flavours were mild and subtle. I would appreciate it if the flavours were stronger. 

Nangka, jackfruit ice cream (made from jackfruit seeds) served with nangka sorbet (made from flesh of jackfruit) topped with nangka crumble (made from jackfruit seeds as well). It was very innovative and I applaud the chefs for this. The taste of the crumble reminds me of peanut butter. The icecream was nutty, creamy, ‘vanilla-y’, the sorbet was refreshing and tied the flavours well together. The plating reminded me of how a jackfruit looks. The ice cream represents the seed and the sorbet represents the flesh of the jackfruit.

Final Thoughts

The Sarawak terrior (Third course), the fish (Fifth Course) and the desserts (Seventh Course) especially the nangka icecream were by far my favourite. However, the overall food experience was a miss or hit for me. The meal started fairly decent but definitely ended with a high note. Service on the other hand was the opposite. Started out strong, but, later it felt inconsistent, haste, rushed. They were hospitable and polite. However, with each course, we were served by a different waitstaff. Some explained in great detail on the components of the food, but some left us to our imagination and guesses.

To conclude, it was a pleasant experience. Never could I have imagined what Borneo ‘tastes’ like, but the chefs had given me great insights through their perspective and palate. I can confidently walk away with a thought in mind, that is “I have tasted Borneo”. At the end of our meal, we were honoured by the presence of the chefs. Passion was definitely what I had received after a short chat with them. A huge congratulations to them. Surely, I’ll be keeping an eye out for their next event. Keep innovating! Looking forward!